Governance

Registered address: Bury Lodge, 1 Queensway, Hemel Hempstead, Herts, HP1 1HT

DENS Ltd – Registered in England and Wales.

Charity number: 1097185

Company number: 4610820

You can contact us by calling 01442 262274 or filling in our online contact form.

Samantha Allen (Treasurer)

Samantha has a Geography degree and qualified as a Chartered Accountant in 1994. Sam has worked in practice for over 25 years. She was an Audit Partner at RSM UK, advising clients in the non-profit sector and owner-managed businesses. Latterly she stepped down as Audit Partner while juggling the demands of family life raising three boys, and turned her hand to work in personal and corporate tax at RSM UK. In 2015 Sam left practice and became a Bikeability instructor with children. Sam now spends her time involved in several local charities utilising her financial skills, when she is not running, cycling or swimming.

Melanie Eckert

Mel worked for KPMG, one of the big four accounting firms, for 26 years. In later years her roles included Treasurer for the UK firm and working on projects involving diversity and inclusion. Her years at KPMG gave her experience of strategic financial decision making. In addition, her role as one of the Senior Managers of the large finance team, gave her insight into people management, and development of individuals within the team. Now semi-retired, she is a Trustee on the board of DENS, a culmination of many years of support to the charity, which started by serving hot drinks to the service users in the night shelter in Apsley. In addition to her work in DENS, she is also an active member of Northchurch Baptist Church.

Tristan Jones

Tristan has held a number of roles in the semiconductor industry and currently heads up Corporate Development for Imagination Technologies, a global technology company headquartered in Dacorum. Tristan is responsible for a broad range of activities and his areas of expertise include risk management, strategy, business continuity and governance. Tristan is passionate about ethical and sustainable business and sits on Imagination’s ESG steering committee and leads the company’s sustainability strategy.

Having spent several years living in China, Tristan now lives in Bedfordshire with his wife, two cats and young son. A former Dacorum resident and long-term DENS supporter, he retains close ties with the local community.

Carolyn Manuel-Barkin

Carolyn has worked in health and care for nearly three decades, across academia, government, financial services, management consultancy and technology. She now runs her own digital health consultancy, working with the NHS at a national and local level to support digital strategy, transformation and implementation.

Carolyn sits on the Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Parent Group at her children’s secondary school and is an Advisory Board Member for the Shuri Network, the network of women from minority ethnic groups working in digital health in the NHS. A proud Dacorum resident, she lives with her husband, two teenage children, and their rescue cat Timmy.

Eugene McLaughlin

Eugene is a Management Consultant by profession. Latterly, Eugene has specialised in procurement and commercial activity. He began his career as a community worker working with unemployed teenagers. He has worked across a wide range of activities at senior executive level including local government, the community sector, education, housing, social care, economic development and finance. Eugene has introduced organisational change and has achieved buy-in across complex customer facing services. Eugene’s professional and life experiences have led him to understand the importance of decent life chances for vulnerable people. Eugene is interested in sport and local history and is a Trustee for other voluntary organisations operating in the Herts/north London area. Eugene has a degree in Economics, an MBA, and an MA in Irish History.

Michael Morgan

Michael is a Chartered Safety and Health Practitioner and has worked in the health and safety industry for the past 30 plus years.
After working as the UK Health and Safety Manager for Ernst and Young (Chartered Accountants) he started his own health and safety consultancy. As well as running and producing his own training courses, he is a licensed trainer with the Institution of Occupational Safety and Health (IOSH).
Michael is a Trustee for the London Health and Safety Group, which has been in existence since 1941 and whose aim is to promote the very best professional standards of health and safety for people at work, thereby, minimising the possibility of injury or ill-health.

Eric Pillinger

Eric is an Economics graduate and a Chartered Accountant. After a variety of management jobs in industry he joined TACK International Ltd, a global corporate training consultancy, and worked with clients and business partners all over the world. His many years as company director have given him a full appreciation of finance, people management, board operation and corporate governance. He is now part retired and works as a trustee for DENS, two other charities and a local school. He has three adult children and seven grandchildren.

Andy Smart

Andy has lived in Dacorum most of his life and has been involved in the local community, volunteering with Volunteer Dacorum, The Blind Centre and SWHerts Labour among others. He’s worked in technology since the mid 90s, mainly in sales and marketing leadership roles. He currently owns a successful Software and Data Engineering company called Softwire who are based in London, Manchester and Cambridge. He’s been a supporter of DENS for many years and volunteering at The Elms since 2022.

Ian Stelfox

Ian is a chartered Civil Engineer, with a career in the rail industry spanning over 35 years. He has experience managing design consultancies and working as an Engineering Manager and Project Director on various rail projects in the UK, Europe and Australia. Ian has leadership and managerial credentials built up over several years, managing consultancy business, dealing with local and global businesses at an executive level. He has experience of managing profit and loss, sales, marketing and business development activities. A Dacorum resident, Ian is married with two grown up children and an active member of Northchurch Baptist Church, where he was previously a Trustee.

Nigel Thompson

Until he retired, Nigel was a partner in the corporate and commercial department of Birketts, a top 50 law firm. Nigel held a number of senior management roles in the firms he worked in, including serving seven years as a member of Birketts’ Management Board. As part of his management roles, he dealt with matters of a regulatory and compliance nature, as well as having experience of fiscal and operational oversight.

Nigel and his family have lived in Dacorum for over 30 years and have been supporters of DENS for a number of years. He is also a trustee of another charity based in Buckinghamshire.

Ian Tottman

Ian was a Solicitor and Senior Partner of Pickworths Solicitors until it merged with SA Law LLP, who are now solicitors for DENS. Ian continued to practice until October 2016 before retiring. In 2011, Ian had qualified as a Work Place and Employment Mediator and then in 2012 as a Commercial Mediation Practitioner. He mediates on a regular basis with Mediation Hertfordshire and has been a Trustee with that charity for a number of years. His main role with DENS is to attend Trustee meetings and to advise on the various matters that are considered at them.